Nikhil Sosale, the senior Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) official arrested over the June 4 tragedy that left 11 dead in a stampede during the team's victory celebrations, has been granted interim bail by the Karnataka High Court.
Sosale, along with two officials from DNA Entertainment, the event management company associated with RCB, has been released on specific conditions, the most notable being the surrender of their passports.
In Thursday's hearing, Sosale's lawyers argued that the arrests had been made solely on "the orders of the Chief Minister [Siddaramaiah without conducting any investigation and collecting any material to point out that the petitioners were responsible for the stampede."
At the time of the arrests on June 5, two days after RCB won IPL 2025, Bengaluru Police claimed they denied RCB permission to conduct their victory parade at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, around which the stampede occurred leading to casualties.
RCB were listed as the first accused along with DNA Entertainment, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), which is in charge of the stadium premises. Subsequently, two senior KSCA officials - treasurer ES Jairam and secretary A Shankar - resigned from their posts on June 7, citing "moral responsibility."
As things stand, Sosale and all other RCB officials who are part of the management team are likely to undergo an internal investigation by parent company Diageo. RCB has made no comment on the matter since issuing a public apology via a press release a day after the incident.
There has been no social media posts or updates on their platforms since.
